Stumbling at Home; Mud Hens Arrive

Missing from the accounts of the last four games is the fact that a former Bull played a key role in two of the Bulls' losses. Richie Shaffer, who spent part of 2015 and most of 2016 with the Bulls, is now in the Cleveland system. He got key hits in games 2 and 3 of this series.

Nevertheless, even after losing three games in a row, the Bulls remain firmly in first place.

Rosterification

Just to try to keep things up to date ...

• LHP Justin Marks went up to the Rays. Got DFA'd and then claimed by the LA Dodgers. I'm just a blogger, but sure looks like a dumb move by the Rays.
• RHP Chih We Hu is back, but not as a starting pitcher. So that hole remains unfilled.
• RHP Yoel Espinal went back to Montgomery
• RHP Kyle Winkler is back from "extended spring training"
• Outfielder Johnny Field came off the disabled list
• Outfielder Shane Peterson, who started the year with the Bulls, is back from TB.
• Outfielder Granden Goetzman, surely one of the more exciting Durham Bulls in a while, has gone back to Montgomery.
• Outfielder Dayron Varona has been "assigned" to the Hudson Valley Renegades. 
• RHP Austin Pruitt, who has been with the Rays all year, but spent last year in Durham, is headed to the Bulls
• RHP Diego Mareno got called up.

Matchup - Toledo Mud Hens

In most years visits by the second-most famous team in minor league baseball, the Toledo Mud Hens, are fun. Probably will be fun this year as well. The Mud Hens are leading the West Division, but their numbers are not good. On paper, the Bulls should be in good shape. On the other hand ... Tampa Bay, where's a starting pitcher? The Bulls have been without a 5th starter for a long time and it's starting to show. They used three (3!) position players as pitchers the other night. They gave up 10 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks in 2 innings, putting a severe kink in the team's pitching stats.